A 1,000-year-old hollow cedar tree in Vancouver's Stanley Park will stand for at least another 150 days.
Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation commissioners voted on Monday night to delay a planned removal of the popular landmark so that officials could evaluate engineering reports suggesting it can be saved.
Considered to be one of Vancouver's oldest treasures, the long-dead tree, now a 14-metre-tall stump, has been a tourist favourite for more than a century as visitors pose for photographs standing in the tree's six-metre-wide opening.
But wind storm damage in recent years, especially 2006, caused the decomposing hollow trunk to lean dangerously. It is currently held upright by cables and braces.
Last March, despite public opposition, commissioners voted to cut the stump in half, leaving the two chunks in a memorial at the site so visitors could still see the tree's massive size.
70 trees face the axe
Meanwhile, the Vancouver board of Parks and Recreation commissioners also approved a controversial plan to cut down 70 trees in Queen Elizabeth Park to improve the view.
Standing on top of Little Mountain at the centre of the park used to offer a popular view across downtown Vancouver towards the North Shore Mountains.
But some two dozen people, who signed up to speak at the park board meeting, argued that it was wrong to cut down trees to restore a view.
Park Board officials say some of the trees are dying and will be replaced with a two-to-one ratio of new trees in other areas of the park.
The trees are expected to be chopped down later this summer.
With files from The Canadian Press
